Saar

[Loddfafner]

Could someone explain to me the history of the Saar area? Why were the French so keen on grabbing it after each of the great wars? Does France have any historic claim to the region? Is there any significant percentage of French-speakers left there?

[The Lawspeaker]

As always French don't have any claims. It was occupied by the French in 1792 and 1870 and was occupied because of it's strategic position and it's resources. It's completely German-speaking.

[Ouistreham]

Part of the Saar district used to belong to Lorraine, especially the once bilingual town Sarrelouis / Saarlouis (birthplace of Michel Ney, one of Napoleon's most famous generals ).

After 1871, crowds of refugees from Alsace-Lorraine resettled to France and propagated rumours that Saarland actually was a Lorrain territory, and that the day Alsace and Lorraine will be returned to France Saarland should also follow.

Of course, there were powerful economic interests behind that propaganda: Lorraine had plenty of iron ore but not enough coal to process it, Saarland collieries would nicely complement Lorrain steel mills.

But in reality, with generalized education and literacy in the course of the 19th century, Saarland had become and still is absolutely deutschgesinnt (what's the word for that? "German-oriented"?) and a stronghold of German nationalism, just as much as Lorraine was and still is a hot spot of French nationalism. A permanent line had been drawn. Deutsch ist (und bleibt) die Saar!

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Saarlouis_Proviantmagazin_1890.jpg


Which is now the main reason the French national flag is still present there:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Saarlouis_Ney_Geburtshaus.JPG/800px-Saarlouis_Ney_Geburtshaus.JPG

[Geminus]

The French generally wanted to advance into Germany and tried to reach the Rhine as natural border.